Jane Eyre

Published in 1847 by Currer Bell, the pen-name used by Charlotte Bronte, this book feautures a strong and intelligent heroine. Jane's childhood was a sad succession of torments. Orphaned at a young age and left to the care of an unwelcoming aunt and abusive cousins then sent away to a strict school, she finally reaches womanhood and sets out on her own. She applies for a job as a governess and from their her life really begins.